1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method for defining a uniform injection molding interface and an injection molding system using the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials, in which material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and injected into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity. Recently, injection molding has been widely used to manufacture various parts, from the smallest components to entire body panels of cars. Since the injection molding process is relatively complex, it is necessary to set a large number of control parameters, such as mold clamping force, injection speed, injection pressure, pressure holding temperature, and so on.
An injection machine generally provides an original interface to configure various control parameters and convey the control parameters received from input devices, such as mice, keyboards and touch panels, to a controller system positioned in the injection molding machine. The original interface is pre-defined at the factory where the injection molding machine is manufactured and configured with icons, characters, buttons, and dialog boxes therein associated with corresponding control parameters.
However, the features of the original interfaces of multiple injection molding machines are specific to the machine's manufacturer, such that familiarity with one original interface is non-transferable when operating another type of machine, which increases training costs and aggravates the burden on manpower. In addition, the original interface is generally configured with a large number of critical control parameters associated with the process, whereby operations can be severely impaired while learning the control parameters.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.